Background: Information about how individual characteristics influence preferences about health states valuation are scare. The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of the EuroQol with five dimensions and 3 levels - EQ 5D-3L time-tradeoff valuation.
Research design and methods: We analyzed a dataset with a probabilistic sample of 5774 individuals. Two sets of independent variables for testing were defined: a set of forced variables composed of 10 dummy variables for EuroQol levels 2 and 3 of each health dimension and a set of demographic variables.
Results: The strongest predictors of health valuation were the self-reported health state and the 'belief in God,' with 0.11 utility units for each VAS unit and 0.11 utility units for 'yes' for the 'belief in God' parameter.Age had an impact of 0.0190 utility units for each 10-year interval. Having children had a small effect (0.0338 utility units for 'yes'), and the other characteristics studied had no significant impact.
Conclusions: People who believe in God (or the afterlife) and those of greater age seem to be less prone to forgoing life years to avoid health problems. In our sample, older individuals valued health state higher than younger individuals.
Keywords: EuroQol; Quality of life; economics; medical; patient preference; religious.